The first Big East Tournament, all the way back in 1980, didn't mean much. It wasn’t played in Madison Square Garden, the venue that would come to define the conference in later years. It did not convey an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It was just about basketball.

For the first time in a long time, what is happening with the Big East this week is just about basketball.

The seven basketball-first members of the Big East — DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Villanova — are on the verge of taking an action that will sever a long-term history with founding member Connecticut as well as relatively recent additions Cincinnati and South Florida — but perhaps not with the league’s automatic bid, its tournament at the Garden, the NCAA Tournament money members have earned and possibly not even the Big East name.

All that figures to be sorted out by attorneys and executives over the coming months, once the basketball schools make up their minds to strike out on their own.

Many have suggested these basketball schools have been mistreated for years as the league twisted itself in various directions to invent and then support and then attempt to maintain football competition within the league.

The truth is that ever since football was introduced in the Big East, the basketball-firsters have benefited from the relative largesse it provided. They had money from television and political power within the NCAA structure they would not have possessed if not connected to high-level football.

That began to change when they were asked to accept distant TCU as a full member. It changed dramatically when Syracuse and Pitt bolted to the ACC, West Virginia to the Big 12 (and TCU elected never to arrive) and those losses were addressed through the additions of Houston, Central Florida and SMU. It changed irrevocably when Tulane was invited as Louisville’s departure became inevitable.

It felt rushed at the time. It felt wrong to those who understood that Tulane never has enjoyed a deep bond with New Orleans sports fans. Who was in a position to understand this? Those who had competed against the Green Wave before.

“I was not pleased that we issued an invitation to Tulane without any diligence to what effect that would have on our basketball product, the draw on our RPI and other such things,” Marquette athletics director Larry Williams told WAUK-AM this week.

It has been said the report by CBS’ Dennis Dodd that television negotiations for the Big East were unlikely to be as fruitful as expected led us here, to the brink of another revolutionary change in college athletics. It only played a part in accelerating things, because the basketball schools would have been just as likely to revolt when they eventually heard the numbers from new commissioner Mike Aresco.

In some ways, the pending breakup of the Big East is the most profound of all the conference maneuverings we’ve observed the past few years. However, because it mostly is about basketball, it will be viewed as the least consequential.

Except to those who stand among the winners and losers. As ever in conference realignment, it would seem there are more losers to be found:

Loser: Connecticut

When the initial barrage of conference realignment discussion began, there was a lot of weeping about the possibility a program with Kansas’ tradition might become a sort of orphan program, with no viable league to call home. Well, that’s where UConn stands now and the Huskies have won as many NCAA titles since 1999 as KU has in the tournament’s 74-year history.

At least Cincinnati has a bit of rivalry with Memphis. The Huskies are removed from the programs it appears they’ll be forced to play both geographically and competitively. And this arrives at a time when the national power that was constructed by Jim Calhoun already is imperiled by his retirement.

If UConn is not in the Big East, it’s in a world of hurt.

Winners: DePaul, Seton Hall, Providence

In the seven full seasons since the Big East added five former members of Conference USA, the league has earned 57 NCAA Tournament bids. These three schools are responsible for one of those: Seton Hall’s fortunate inclusion in 2006.

And yet all three will be a part of this new configuration. Seton Hall appears to be improving both culturally and competitively under Kevin Willard, and Ed Cooley is a dynamic coach who could turn around the Friars if his best recruits get on the floor. DePaul enjoyed a big victory on the road at Arizona State late Wednesday, and now this. For the Blue Demons, that constitutes a long winning streak.

Loser: Boise State

At one point, it appeared the Broncos were poised to join a football competition that would bring greater credibility to their success, one that would put them on the field against greater competition on a regular basis. Whatever one thinks of what the Big East has been in football, and most thought less of it than it merited, Boise-Cincinnati and Boise-Louisville were more appealing games than Boise-Utah State.

Because Boise was not joining for basketball, it’s possible the football conglomeration will remain intact. But the mechanics of the separation agreement could make whatever we call this group even less appealing to television executives, which would make transcontinental competition less inviting to the Broncos.

Winner: Xavier

Butler and Dayton likely will be invited to join the Big East Seven in a new league, but it’s certain the Musketeers will get the call. Of all potential candidates, Xavier’s success has been the most consistent over the years, its facilities are the freshest and it has built something of a national brand.

The Musketeers have lost more than a few top recruits over the years because someone — the player, a family member, perhaps even a friend of the prospect — balked at the notion of that young man competing in the Atlantic 10. Especially if these schools can maintain the Big East name, Xavier won’t face that problem as often.

Loser: Aresco

He was the right hire at the wrong time. Had he been in place five years ago, it’s possible the Big East could have avoided being picked apart like a roast turkey. Once the Big Ten made a move to grab Rutgers (and created a vacancy for Louisville in the ACC), Aresco had no chance. There was no way he was going to be able to command a significant TV contract for what was left of the league.

Winner: Butler

Only 15 years ago, the Bulldogs were a 14 seed out of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference and viewing that as significant progress. Now, Butler has two national championship games on its resume and figures to become part of the nation’s most significant basketball-centric conference.

Loser: Cincinnati

The Bearcats have a big market, a football program with four league titles in five years, a basketball program with six Final Fours, two NCAA titles, a fresh Sweet 16 appearance and a No. 11 national ranking — and now they have no viable home.

Loser: Atlantic 10

The notion that the A-10 might invite the seven departing Big East schools to join their league was partly good PR — shows the league being progressive — but mostly comedy. There was no way Georgetown & Co. to go through all of these machinations and legal issues to surrender all their newfound power.

There was no way they were going to run away from playing Tulane and run head-long into playing Fordham. Not ever.

Now, the A-10 stands to be cherry-picked of at least three key members, and possibly more.

Loser: Memphis

When the Tigers received their Big East invitation in February after nearly a decade of being separated from longtime rivals Cincinnati and Louisville, the university community celebrated as though the team reached another Final Four. FedEx executive Alan Graf, one of the program’s most ardent boosters, told the Memphis Daily news, “Whether we were lucky or good or whatever doesn’t matter. We’re in.”

Unfortunately, now they’re out. Well, not technically. They’ll still most likely be in with UConn, Cincinnati and South Florida, but most of the company they’ll keep will be the same as it has been recently: Central Florida, Houston, SMU. Oh yeah, and Tulane.